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The president is pressing Republicans in the Senate to unite quickly behind sprawling legislation that carries his domestic agenda, but the measure’s opponents have a powerful new ally: Elon Musk.
June 3, 2025Updated 5:22 p.m. ET
President Trump on Tuesday ratcheted up pressure on Senate Republicans to quickly embrace and pass legislation carrying his domestic agenda, intensifying a battle inside the G.O.P. about what should be in the measure and how much it should cost.
The deepening divisions are threatening the fate of the sprawling bill, which includes large tax cuts; reductions to Medicaid, food assistance and clean energy programs; and additional money for border security and the military. They erupted online on Tuesday after Mr. Trump lashed out at an outspoken Republican opponent of the legislation and as Elon Musk, the tech billionaire who recently left his governmental role leading the Department of Government Efficiency, castigated its supporters, denouncing the bill as “a disgusting abomination.”
The back-and-forth highlighted the challenges facing Mr. Trump’s top domestic priority, which has prompted a searing debate in the G.O.P. about policy priorities and how much additional debt the federal government should take on to address them.
Mr. Trump began the day lashing out on social media at Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, for refusing to back the bill, claiming that Mr. Paul had little understanding of the measure and adding: “His ideas are actually crazy (losers!). The people of Kentucky can’t stand him.”
“He loves voting ‘NO’ on everything, he thinks it’s good politics, but it’s not,” Mr. Trump wrote of Mr. Paul, calling the legislation a “big WINNER!”
Hours later, Mr. Musk panned the bill in his own social media posts, calling it “massive, outrageous, pork-filled,” and warning that it would “massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit” and “burden America citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”
